Integration between Creativity and Engineering in Industrial Design

The objective of the paper is to illustrate which are the key issues today in the industrial design workflow, paying particular attention to the most creative part of the workflow, highlighting those nodes which still make hard the styling activities and giving a brief survey of the researches aimed at smoothing the transfer of the design intent along the whole design cycle and at providing tools even more adhering at the mentality of creative people. Based on the experience gained working in two different European projects, through the collaboration with industrial designers in the automotive and the household supplies fields, a general industrial design workflow will be depicted, highlighting the main differences between the automotive and non-automotive sectors; the problems still present in the design activity will be also illustrated. The paper includes short surveys, in relation to the aesthetic design, in matter of research activities aimed at - identifying the links between shape characteristics of a product and the transmitted emotions - better supporting, in a digital way, the 2D sketching phase and the automatic interpretation and transfer of the 2D sketches into a 3D surface model - improving the 3D Modeling phase

HCI models, theories, and frameworks: Toward a multidisciplinary science

Motivation The movement of body and limbs is inescapable in human-computer interaction (HCI). Whether browsing the web or intensively entering and editing text in a document, our arms, wrists, and fingers are at work on the keyboard, mouse, and desktop. Our head, neck, and eyes move about attending to feedback marking our progress. This chapter is motivated by the need to match the movement limits, capabilities, and potential of humans with input devices and interaction techniques on computing systems. Our focus is on models of human movement relevant to human-computer interaction. Some of the models discussed emerged from basic research in experimental psychology, whereas others emerged from, and were motivated by, the specific need in HCI to model the interaction between users and physical devices, such as mice and keyboards. As much as we focus on specific models of human movement and user interaction with devices, this chapter is also about models in general. We will say a lot about the nature of models, what they are, and why they are important tools for the research and development of humancomputer interfaces. Overview: Models and Modeling By its very nature, a model is a simplification of reality. However a model is useful only if it helps in designing, evaluating, or otherwise providing a basis for understanding the behaviour of a complex artifact such as a computer system. It is convenient to think of models as lying in a continuum, with analogy and metaphor at one end and mathematical equations at the other. Most models lie somewhere in-between. Toward the metaphoric end are descriptive models; toward the mathematical end are predictive models. These two categories are our particular focus in this chapter, and we shall visit a few examples of each. Two models will be presented in detail and in case studies: Fitts' model of the information processing capability of the human motor system and Guiard's model of bimanual control. Fitts' model is a mathematical expression emerging from the rigors of probability theory. It is a predictive model at the mathematical end of the continuum, to be sure, yet when applied as a model of human movement it has characteristics of a metaphor. Guiard's model emerged from a detailed analysis of how human's use their hands in everyday tasks, such as writing, drawing, playing a sport, or manipulating objects. It is a descriptive model, lacking in mathematical rigor but rich in expressive power

An Exploration into Supporting Artwork Orientation in the User Interface

Rotating a piece of paper while drawing is an integral and almost subconscious part of drawing with pencil and paper. In a similar manner, the advent of lightweight pen-based computers allow digital artwork to be rotated while drawing by rotating the entire computer. Given this type of manipulation we explore the implications for the user interface to support artwork orientation. First we describe an exploratory study to further motivate our work and characterize how artwork is manipulated while drawing. After presenting some possible UI approaches to support artwork orientation, we define a new solution called a rotating user interface (RUIs). We then discuss design issues and requirements for RUIs based on our exploratory study

Remixing physical objects through tangible tools

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2011.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 147-164).In this document we present new tools for remixing physical objects. These tools allow users to copy, edit and manipulate the properties of one or more objects to create a new physical object. We already have these capabilities using digital media: we can easily mash up videos, music and text. However, it remains difficult to remix physical objects and we cannot access the advantages of digital media, which are nondestructive, scalable and scriptable. We can bridge this gap by both integrating 2D and 3D scanning technology into design tools and employing aordable rapid prototyping technology to materialize these remixed objects. In so doing, we hope to promote copying as a tool for creation. This document presents two tools, CopyCAD and KidCAD, the first designed for makers and crafters, the second for children. CopyCAD is an augmented Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) milling machine which allows users to copy arbitrary real world object geometry into 2D CAD designs at scale through the use of a camera-projector system. CopyCAD gathers properties from physical objects, sketches and touch interactions directly on a milling machine, allowing novice users to copy parts of real world objects, modify them and create a new physical part. KidCAD is a sculpting interface built on top of a gel-based realtime 2.5D scanner. It allows children to stamp objects into the block of gel, which are scanned in realtime, as if they were stamped into clay. Children can use everyday objects, their hands and tangible tools to design new toys or objects that will be 3D printed. This work enables novice users to easily approach designing physical objects by copying from other objects and sketching new designs. With increased access to such tools we hope that a wide range of people will be empowered to create their own objects, toys, tools and parts.by Sean Follmer.S.M

Systems for the automotive industry for improved safety of pregnant occupants

The thesis presents an investigation of pregnant women s safety and comfort needs during car travel. A survey is used to investigate all aspects and problems of car travel. This survey is a comprehensive examination of the entire driving activity with much detail of reported difficulties from pregnant women that forms a novel resource for the automotive engineers. The survey results are used to generate guidelines for the automotive industry. A series of sled tests are presented that investigate seat belt use in pregnancy including the use of lap belt positioners. The peak abdominal pressure results clearly agree with current guidelines that the lap belt should be positioned across the hips and not across the abdomen. This research includes a novel anthropometric dataset for 107 pregnant women including measurements especially selected for the field of automotive design and to describe the changes of pregnancy. This includes investigation of pregnant driver s proximity to the steering wheel. A novel measurement of knee splay is used to define the pregnant women s preference to sit with their knees widely spaced instead of knees together, in both normal sitting and in a car. Comparison is made between the pregnant women's measurements and the available data in the literature for non-pregnant women and males, and this shows that pregnant women can be excluded from designs if the accommodation does not consider their needs. The pregnant women's anthropometric data is presented as a novel website in order to make the data available to the automotive industry. This website is generated for use by automotive engineers and is designed to suit their usability needs and the general trends within the industry, in order to make the site more user-friendly and more likely to be used as a reference for pregnant occupant's needs.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo